Timur Khamkhoyev, the former head of the Ingush Interior Ministry’s Depart­ment for Combating Extremism (Centre E) on trial for torturing suspects has said he is the victim of a political intrigue. Khamkhoyev made the comments in court on Friday in the city of Nalchik, where his trial kicked off in May.

The former head of Daghestan, Ramazan Abdu­latipov, may be ques­tioned as a witness in two high-profile criminal cases involving Dagh­es­tani officials. Defence lawyers in two cases — a multi-million rouble embez­zle­ment scheme and a kid­nap­ping attempt on the former minister of con­struc­tion — have said he could be a key figure.

The Grand Chamber of the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Georgian author­i­ties violated two articles of the European Con­ven­tion on Human Rights in their treatment of former Prime Minister Vano Mer­abishvili while in detention. However, the court stopped short of ruling that the charges against him were polit­i­cal­ly motivated, as Merabishvili’s lawyers claimed.[Read more…]

The public tribunal held by the local branch of the Russian Asso­ci­a­tion of Victims of Political Repres­sion (OC Media)

A rights group in Kabardino-Balkaria is putting a former Soviet era official, who was executed for crimes he was later acquitted for back on trial. According to recent claims, Betal Kalmykovcommitted crimes against humanity as leader of Kabardino-Balkaria.

The trial of Chechen writer Rizvan Ibragimov began on 5 May in the Oktyabrsky District Court of Grozny. The court of first instance deemed his writings on the origins of the Chechen people to be ‘extremist’. The latest hearing is being held after the writer’s defence filed an appeal.